Moscow’s hotels are ranked the most expensive in the world for 8th year in a row

Skift Take

In reality, several cities including Zurich, Rio de Janeiro, and Lagos swap titles for the world’s costliest hotel depending on the study and impacted by global events like the Olympics and recessions.

— Samantha Shankman

In a survey of average room rates in 50 major cities, the perennially pricey Russian capital came out on top, with a one-night hotel stay typically costing travellers slightly less than £260.

Moscow has topped the annual study, carried out by the Hogg Robinson Group (HRG), a travel management company, for eight years running. This year, it was almost 20 per cent more expensive than anywhere else considered in the analysis.

Lagos in Nigeria climbed to second place in the survey with average room rates standing at £217 a night, thanks to a “high volume of inbound business travel connected with the oil industry”. The research added that travellers to Lagos were conscious of its “well-documented” security issues, and therefore more inclined to choose five-star accommodation.

Geneva, where hotel accommodation will typically cost around £216, around £12 less than last year, came third.

Average room rates also dipped in other European cities, including Barcelona – where they fell by nearly a quarter – Madrid and Dublin.

Stewart Harvey, group commercial director at HRG, said that economic “uncertainty” was “driving down room rates across mainland Europe.”

The largest increases in hotel rates were seen in Latin America. In Rio de Janeiro, which is hosting both the 2016 Olympics and several matches – including the final – of the football World Cup in 2014, prices rose by 15 per cent, and in Sao Paulo, they increased by more than a fifth. Mexico City, meanwhile, saw average rates soar by nearly a third.

London rates rose by five per cent, to £164 on average, putting it 21st in the study.

A similar survey carried out earlier this year by the hotel booking website HRS, found that Rio de Janeiro’s hotels were the world’s costliest, ahead of Moscow and Zurich.